Songs of the Illusionary Veil
by Achariyth1
Summary: A growing collection of Touhou short stories. "Howl" - For the love of sleep, don't wake the Doomkitten.
1. Prodigal

**Songs of the Illusionary Veil: Prodigal**

A Touhou Project story by Achariyth

**Disclaimers:** The usual disclaimer applies. Also, I am playing fast and loose with histories, cultures, and backgrounds not my own for the sake of storytelling. Please indulge my intentional errors and mistakes.

* * *

Lady Mokou Fujiwara crept low, hiding in the shadow of the scarlet cloth wall. Much about the ornate tents nearby struck her as odd. Few outside Gensokyo would make buildings out of silk, fewer inside Gensokyo could afford to. And anyone profligate enough to build a small village out of finery would easily disturb the fragile peace.

The last thing Keine Kamishirasawa wanted as the protector of the humans in the Village was to see her friends and her charges hunted throughout the land. She had asked Mokou to find out who owned the tabernacle as well as their intentions. At least that way, she could prepare.

The immortal duchess padded softly along the wall of red. Of everything her father had done, Mokou appreciated only the time spent teaching her woodcraft. Chasing after Kaguya had proven to be as disastrous as betrothing her to a long gone saint. What considerable ability she had learned from her wastrel of a dad, her longstanding feud with Kaguya had honed into near supernatural skill. Not only could she slip through the forest without a sound, she instinctively knew where any animal, youkai, or human was in relation to her.

Silk parted behind her. Mokou spun around as an arm snaked across her waist. She threw elbows, but caught only air. A hand covered her mouth, muffling her screams.

"You're good. Look over there, though," a feminine voice hissed. Mokou's captor wrenched her neck until the immortal could see a shadow shrouded figure hop towards her. Squirming, she screamed again as she saw the death pallor clinging to the figure. "None of that now, or my darling _jiang shi_ over there starts eating. I can sense your essence. She'll feed off of you for ages." Mokou froze, letting her unseen captor lead her through the hole in the silk wall.

* * *

"I apologize," Lady Seiga Kaku said, sitting behind a scholar's desk. The blue-clad missionary brushed characters onto a sheet of paper. "This is not the Way of hospitality, but then, you did not come to us as a guest."

Mokou sat upright and still on a wooden chair in the center of the blue tent. Behind her, the _jiang shi_ cooed sweet nothings into her ear. The duchess longed to burn away the vampiric zombie's fetid breath from off her skin, if only to silence the monster's constant mutterings about how delicious Mokou would be. But anyone who could command a _jiang shi _would likely have worse waiting.

"You may go now, Yoshida," Seiga said, setting down her brush. She pulled out a bundle of cloth, untying it.

The zombie ceased her whispers. "Who will protect you, Lady Seiga?"

"I'm only thinking of you, my dear," the Daoist said with a smile. She made shooing motions with her hands. "You know what the _Classic of Change_ can do to your kind. Besides, Futo will step in if she needs to."

"Vile book," Yoshika muttered, shrinking away from the desk. The _jiang shi_ hopped outside the tent.

"I prefer the _Way to Virtue_, but there are things that only the _Classic of Change_ can tell us," the ageless missionary said. She unwrapped the cloth, revealing a battered leather tome.

"What do you think you're going to do me?" Mokou asked, smiling through clenched teeth.

"I just want you to answer a few questions. The _Classic of Change_ here will tell me if you're telling the truth." The Chinese noble held up six coins, three between the fingers of each hand. The coin toss would be used to generate a hexagram, and the diviner would consult the _Classic of Change_ for the hexagram's meaning.

Mokou laughed deeply and freely, clutching her sides. "Go ahead, try."

Seiga frowned at the phoenix girl. Tossing the coins into one hand, she asked," What are you doing here?" Her free hand swept towards the tents and the tabernacle walls.

"I'm coming home from Grandma's," Mokou said, leaning back in the chair and smirking. "There was this wolf and a lumberjack-"

Seiga shook her head. "I don't need divination to tell me you're lying. Please, don't make me get Futo to help... refine your answers." As she spoke the noblewoman's name, lamps throughout the tent flared higher, hotter, and brighter.

"Fine," Mokou said with a sigh. "I thought I'd check out the new neighbors."

Seiga threw the coins on the desk. They rolled across the wood, coming to a stop. She gasped; all six coins stood upright on the narrow edge, neither heads nor tails.

"You weren't expecting that," Mokou said. Mirth filled the phoenix girl's voice.

The missionary snarled, throwing the coins again. Once again, the coins stood on edge. She thumbed through the leather-bound book, consulting the commentaries towards the end. "You're immortal," she hissed.

Mokou nodded, her smile widening. "It does tend to wreck divination."

"Futo!" Seiga bellowed, closing the book. She wrapped it in its cloth. "Get Lady Miko."

"I was listening," a calm regal voice rang out. A young woman in Imperial purple and white stepped through the divided silk door. A short straight sword centuries out of fashion hung from her belt.

Mokou gasped, she had see that sword and scabbard long ago, when she was still a girl. "That's the Seven Star Sword."

"A family heirloom, I assure you," the woman winced as she drew near. "I am Lady Miko Toyosatomimi."

"Pardon me if I don't get up," Mokou said, covering her eyes. Looking at Miko was like looking through a cloud. Something made the details all fuzzy.

"Are you unwell?" Miko said, kneeling next to the immortal.

"I'll be fine." The phoenix girl's vision swam as though she looked through tears.

The Lady of the tabernacle made a moue of concern. "Please, we can prepare a bed for you."

"Don't worry about me," Mokou said, inching away from Miko. She'd prove herself stronger than the delicate pampered ladies her father had pawed whenever her mother turned her gaze.

"Nonsense. A young woman of your stature deserves proper treatment. Would I be correct in assuming you are of the Fujiwara? You have something of their look about you."

Mokou nodded, the color running from her face. "Most people think I am of the Konoe."

Miko shook her head. "You remind me of the early Fujiwara from before the clan split into _septs_." She coughed into her hand. "I mean, of paintings I've seen of the clan founder."

"She's acting frail because she got caught," Seiga said, planting her fists on her hips. "I did catch her sneaking outside our walls."

"She's still a guest," Miko said, turning towards her retainer. "The Way of the Enlightened One insists on hospitality.

Mokou froze. "You follow the Eightfold Path?" she asked without thinking. Something deep within her memory welled up.

"I take shelter in the Enlightened One, his teachings, and his community."

Half-remembered lessons learned during her childhood at the feet of a saint flooded back. She looked again at the Lady of the Tabernacle, at the veil obscuring her from clear sight. "Maya," Mokou breathed. The Veil of Illusion, or the part of nature that masked reality. That saint had said that once you were aware of it, you could pierce it to see what it covered. She reached out, her fingers brushing against Miko's vest...

...the Veil of Illusion parted...

In the place of the young woman, a mature, broad-shouldered man knelt next to her. Broad-shouldered, clear-eyed, and handsome, he froze at her touch. Ignored by both the immortal lady and the lord, Seiga gasped.

"I know you," Mokou whispered, staring at the familiar face. "I saw you all the time as a child. You used to teach me." Her eyes snapped wide open, and red flooded her cheeks. "You're Prince Shotoku, the hidden Emperor!" She fell to the ground, prostrating herself before him.

"Please, rise, there's no need for this," the prince said, standing up.

Mokou sat back on her heels and turned her head away. Tears welled in her eyes. "Why?" Ancient promises filled her mind, including the one duty her father had groomed her for, forgotten by all when the lout first chased Kaguya.

Shotoku sighed, folding his arms across his chest. "I had to hide my form, lest the world see me as an abomination. I could only advise the Emperor from the sidelines as my health faded, and then my influence. Your forefather, Duke Fuhito Fujiwara, sheltered me as best he could, but he couldn't prevent the last of the Soga from sealing me and the last of my court away."

Mokou blinked away her tears. "My _father_ failed in many things. I will not." She stood up and reared her hand back. Shotoku's head snapped back as she slapped him. "I am Lady Mokou Fujiwara, the last living child of Duke Fuhito Fujiwara." The immortal held the prince's head in her hands. Standing on her toes, she whispered, "I was promised to you by my father long ago, and unlike him, I will fulfill my duty." The phoenix girl gave him a short, chaste kiss.

Seiga grabbed the phoenix girl by her shoulders and threw her to the ground. A knife appeared, pressed against Mokou's throat. "Say the word, my lord. She may be immortal, but she will learn to regret-"

Prince Shotoku help up a hand. "No harm is to come to her."

"Why?" the missionary said, quivering. She dropped the knife.

"She's my bride."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

"What if" is such a dangerous thing, especially if you have four hours to indulge it. And, yes, ZUN drew heavily on Prince Shotoku for Miko's backstory.

I tried to bring some of what I am learning from a Great Minds of Eastern Thought course into this. Of course, being an outsider, I made a complete mess of it. And, yes, I did just toss out most of Miko's origin story in Ten Desires. All mistakes are my own.


	2. Favor

**Songs of the Illusionary Veil: Favor**

A Touhou Project story by Achariyth

* * *

Idly swirling a too sweet German white wine, Ran Yakumo sat in the corner of Miko Toyosatomimi's bar, slumped over the table. Around her, a line of empty glasses lay like fallen soldiers. Blotting at her eyes, she drained the last of the glass in her hand.

A shadow fell across the fox. She looked up, her cheeks slick, into the stern eyes of a tall fairy waitress. The vixen flashed three fingers.

"If I had my way, I'd cut you off now," the fairy said. A distant cousin of Lily, she placed the empty glasses onto her serving tray. Ran flashed a set of needle-like teeth. "And for that, I should just run you straight out of here. Be glad that Miko said you could stay."

The vixen flashed three fingers once more as the waitress shook her head and walked off. Cradling her head in the crook of her arm, Ran took off her cap and covered her face. The damp cloth muffled her faint sobs.

"Ms. Yakumo," the waitress said, returning with three glasses of a chilled Yamanashi red wine. Setting two glasses on the heavy oak, she said, "Your kit called. She wants to know when you're coming home."

Ran's free arm swept across the table, showering the fairy in spilled wine. The waitress shrieked with the cold and again as she looked down at her newly red dress. Sliding the last glass onto the tabletop, she ran, disappearing into the women's restroom.

Three clawed fingers tapped against the table. The red wine sat undisturbed.

"What's your poison?"

"I'm surprised Miko let you through the door," Ran said, opening a bloodshot eye. She stared up at Mamizou Futatsuiwa for a moment before covering her face with her cap.

The trickster tanuki picked up the wineglass and sniffed it. "At least you don't scrimp on the good stuff."

The vixen's ears twitched. "Don't you have a shrinemaiden to bother?"

Mamizou snatched the white cloth from Ran's face. The vixen flinched from the sudden light. "Nue said that you needed help. And as much as I'd love to see a fox drink herself to death, I still owe her a favor or two."

"Lucky me," Ran deadpanned before a sigh.

Mamizou's smiled grew as she slid into the chair opposite to Ran. "Quite. She was going to ask Kasen."

Ran groaned and the color drained from her cheeks. She threw back the wineglass, emptying it with one gulp. "Where's that waitress?" she said, wiping her wine-stained lips with a cloth napkin.

"Let's keep it to tea," the tanuki said, placing the empty glass out of reach. "That is the traditional drink between enemies, is it not?"

The vixen pointed towards the door. "Go ask the shrinemaiden."

"She's not a fan of my impression of her," Mamizou said with a shrug. The tanuki had dressed as Reimu during a spellcard duel. "There's no accounting for taste out here. For instance, you know better than to drink pop-skull by the tub, even if it's higher quality than a mere art student will see in her lifetime. What're you trying to forget?"

Ran sat up, leveling a cold stare at her rival. "You're serious."

"Nue says that sorrow shared is sorrow divided," Mamizou said. She rested her chin on her hands. "I think she's spent too much time at that temple, personally."

Ran sighed and picked up the empty glass, watching the light play through the crystal. "To desire is to suffer."

Mamizou waved at another of Lily's cousins. "So you go to the same temple as well."

The vixen sighed, setting the glass upside down on the table. "I'm acting like some newly besotted kit."

"So, pretty little fox-maiden, who holds your heart?" The tanuki ordered two cups of tea as a fairy passed.

Ran sighed, closing her eyes. "A human male," she said. Rose flooded her cheeks. " I should have known better. My sisters warned me long ago."

"What's the big deal?"

"There's countless tales of fox-maidens falling in love with human men. None of them end well for the fox." She slumped over the table. "I was so certain this time would be different."

"I meant about human males. Where's the tail?" Mamizou said, taking a tea cup from the waitress. "No tail, no date, at least in tanuki circles."

"The flame that burns briefest..." Ran said, wistfully. She shook her head. "Forget it, it's a fox thing. You tanuki wouldn't understand." She sipped at her tea and made a face. Setting the cup down, she stirred a pair of sugar cubes into the drink.

"So, what went wrong this time?"

"That damned cuddle-bunny floozy," Ran snarled. Her fist slammed against the table. "He had his arms around her. That useless, no-good bunny-" the vixen trailed off, muttering coarsely under her breath.

Mamizou's eyes widened. "You lost to prey?"

"You know, I don't need your help to feel miserable," Ran said, baring her teeth.

"You do have quite the pity party going on," Mamizou said, sipping at her cup. "Forget about him. You should find a nice fox, settle down, and as much as it pains me, have kits."

"Forget it. Not as long as Yukari is my mistress," Ran said with a cold laugh. "Watching over her and Chen is bad enough. Do you really want me to bring kits into that?"

The tanuki added raw honey to her cup. "Not really. One of you is bad enough. I don't want to be around when mini-Ran goes into her first 'I found my true love' funk."

Like clockwork, the bar descended into a periodic awkward silence. For a minute, both the tanuki and the fox found their drinks more interesting than conversation.

"What does she have that I don't?" Ran said with a sigh. She leaned back and slid the teacup and saucer away.

"Well, I can say that Little Bunny Fufu doesn't have your glorious tails," Mamizou said, settling her chin on her hands and smiling. "Honey, you'd make a wonderful fur coat."

"And you'd make a wonderful cap on a hunter's head," Ran said. The vixen laughed freely and loudly. "Thanks."

Mamizou waved the compliment away. "Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't. I have my reputation among the tanuki to consider. I don't want your wanton ways rubbing off on me."

"You couldn't catch a man even if he fell into your arms," Ran said, smirking.

"Nice to see you're in a better mood," the tanuki said. "But I think I might strike a blow for predators everywhere and steal your boyfriend from Reisen."

"Have the two-timer."

"Does Prince Charming have a name?"

"Hikaru."

Mamizou's eyes widened as she whistled. "As in the same one Lord Hieda caught sniffing around his daughter? The guy who managed to court Alice, Patchouli, and Marisa all at the same time? No thanks. Let the bunny floozy keep him if she can. He's probably making a pass at Kaguya as we speak."

"Then he's in for a surprise," Ran said, shaking her head. "How could I have been so foolish?"

"Well, you do work for Yukari. Face it, if you fell for his tricks, your taste in men sucks."

"It's not like you have suitors lining up outside your door."

"Nue scares them away. It amuses her," the tanuki said. "Besides, you did say that most human-fox relationships ended in tragedy."

"I guess even a tanuki can get something right. Will wonders ever cease?" Ran said, feigning surprise.

"Just giving you an outsider's perspective," Mamizou said with a shrug.

"I'll have you know I can stop loving humans whenever I want," Ran said. She froze, a sly smile lighting up her face. Behind her, nine tails beat against her chair. "Just not tonight."

Mamizou looked over her shoulder. Sure, the new guy chatting with the fairy hostess was handsome, in a tall, dark sort of way, but the lack of a tail killed any interest the tanuki might have. Ran, however, glided away from the table, her form already shifting away from the tear and wine-stained wretch to the glamorous fox maiden she normally was. "Don't come crying to me when this falls apart," the tanuki said, shaking her head. She drained the last of her tea. "Nue had only one favor."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Folklore is full of fox-maidens falling in love with humans. I couldn't help but play with the idea, especially since it gave Ran something else to do besides be obsessed with Chen.


	3. For What We Receive

**Songs of the Illusionary Veil: For What We Receive**

A Touhou Project story by Achariyth

**Disclaimers:** The usual disclaimer applies. Also, I am playing fast and loose with histories, cultures, and backgrounds not my own for the sake of storytelling. Please indulge my intentional errors and mistakes.

* * *

The hand axe in my hand bit deep into the thick branch. With a series of deft strokes, it stripped the new fallen tree of its branches. I stepped away from the tree, and wiped sweat from my brow. Singing, my brothers and sisters fell upon the log, scratching away the bark with long handled chisels.

We had been doing this simple work for weeks. After the River clan's home had flooded away, many of our cousins sought refuse with those of us who lived in the mountains. We gladly provided them with food and shelter. Let it not be said that the Mountain clan abandoned family in need. Some returned to the river, but more stayed, begging for adoption into the Mountain clan. With a host of new brothers and sisters, it wouldn't do to let our new brothers and sisters languish in tents.

I didn't mind the work. As much as kappa love tinkering, there's something right about working with my hands, toiling amidst the smells of tree sap, sawdust, and leaves. Some would call such simple work holy. I am not a priest, so I will let those who can argue settle that question. Meanwhile, someone has to build houses for those who no longer have them.

I walked towards a makeshift table and filled my canteen from a bin of cold spring water. It would only be moments before crews dragged in the next tree to be turned into logs. Behind me, the cheerful work songs of my people fell silent, voice by voice. I spun around, expecting to see a tree that rivaled the mighty redwoods I had once seen a picture of.

Instead, my coworkers stood silent, ringing one of the kappa mothers as she stood before me. All eyes could have been on me, but my eyes settled on the young woman draped on the mother's back. I reached out and helped the mother set her on the ground. Two girls ran out, covering the young woman's legs with a blanket. I rolled my eyes at such River clan foolishness; no Mountain clan male worthy of the name would take advantage of her modesty under these circumstances.

Unconscious, she shuddered at my touch. I removed her hat, as the poor girl deserved what comfort we could bring her.. From the gasps of the crowd, you'd have that I had taken her dress off instead. I have no patience for such River clan silliness.

My face fell rigid when I saw her face. I knew this girl, even if I didn't remember her name. She was one of the prettiest newcomers from the River clan and one of the few blondes among our people. No, not River clan; she's Mountain clan now.

A weight settled on my heart. "What happened?" I asked, facing the kappa mother.

The village elder shook her hand. With a moue of distaste, she held out her hand. Crumpled paper rested in her palm. Someone had brushed a prayer to the old gods on it. I recognized the brushwork; charms like these littered the land after an incident. "She tried to seal her." The slight emphasis on "she" left no ambiguity as to whom the mother talked about.

I drew in a quick breath. "Then-"

"I call you to your duty."

I nodded and fiddled with my hand axe. The metal head fell off the short handle and into my hand. My people had long treasured the scientific learning of the Dutch, but a few of us had adopted more from the ancient trades than just their learning. My family came from one of those septs, and followed laws that we had believed had been set down before time itself. The wounded woman resting on the ground before me was now kin, and my actions were now bound by those laws.

The crowd parted before me as I made my way to a pile of finished wood. I took a long pole, some three meters in length, and set my axe head on it. Voices murmured as I secured the axe head in place. No kappa man had put a long handle on an axe in anger for years. The spell card rules had erased the need.

I stood up and hefted the poleax in my hands. No longer a simple tool, I now held a weapon of war.

"She favors you," the mother said, whispering in my ear. "She wanted me to introduce her at the next festival."

My pulse quickened, but I fought it back. "I must focus on my duty now."

"And after?" the mother said, pursing her lips. She had her own duties, as no champion of my people could be allowed to remain unmarried for long.

"Pray to the Swift Sure Hand that there is an after," I whispered.

As I walked out of the village, I could feel the eyes of my people upon me. Many no doubt wondered whether or not I would return.

In truth, so did I.

* * *

I walked along the path to the remote shrine openly and without guile. My axe shone in the sunlight, unadorned by the leather bonds of peace. The shrinemaiden waited at the steps beneath her shrine's awning, sipping at a mug of tea. Lesser humans have run from a kappa under arms, but my foe was Reimu Hakurei, the lovely Shrinemaiden of Paradise. No doubt, in her mind, she had faced worse.

As I drew near, marching along the dirt road, she set her tea down. Standing and stretching, she said, "So your sisters couldn't handle their own business. Very well, how many spell cards?"

"None," I said, shaking my head. I could not indulge such foolishness; no man in Gensokyo would resort to the showiness of danmaku. There was no strength to it.

Her eyes narrowed as they settled on my poleax. Reaching for her tasseled prayer staff, she said, "You're a little short for an assassin."

I drove the butt of my poleax into the earth. "I am the Mountain clan kappa's kinsman-redeemer. I have come to call your actions to account."

She stepped back, staring incredulously at me. Charms appeared in her free hand. "For what?"

"You tried to seal away on of my kin. Her injuries cry for justice." My eyes bore into hers, yet she held my gaze. "'Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for a life.'"

"Eye for an eye makes the world go blind," she snapped.

I snarled at the old saw. Few people truly understood the old saying. "Eye for an eye is the only thing keeping my axe from taking your pretty little head," I snapped back. Rash words to be certain. I had not come to slay her, if it could be avoided.

"Is that so?" She raised an eyebrow and looked me over. I have had my measure taken by many a foe before, but this felt different.

"Punishment must fit the crime, or else there is no justice," I said. My body was as rigid as the poleax next to me. Nothing kept her from trying to seal me away at any moment.

A slight smile crossed her face. "She's a lucky woman to have someone like you stand up for her." The charms vanished from her hand. Setting her prayer staff down, she smoothed her skirts and sat on the edge of the steps. Patting the stone next to her, she said, "Come, set your weapon down and sit with me. With luck, we will have need of neither."

I sat next to her, resting my poleax on stone. Like Reimu, I kept my weapon in reach. However, if the conversation went sour, I'd rely on the knife at my belt instead.

The shrinemaiden stared at me, her gaze occasionally dropping to my hands. I might have come with honor, but it was obvious she was used to those that didn't. "Honestly, why have you come here?"

"Someone has to speak for those without a voice," I said. I looked her up and down. The Shrinemaiden of Paradise was known to be crafty and formidable. What surprise might she have hidden away?

"What do you think I do for my people?"

"Seal away mine," I answered quickly. "Do you think that the strong should do whatever they wish, leaving the weak to suffer?"

She tilted her head toward the side as we both pretended we weren't watch the other for signs of betrayal. "Odd words coming from a youkai. Isn't that exactly what you all believe?"

"I believe that you still have to answer for my kinswoman's injuries."

She sighed and started out to the horizon, for once taking her eyes away from me. "If your people would have left mine alone, I wouldn't have tried to seal her." Sadness crept into her voice. "It's the way of life here. You hurt one of mine, I hurt one of yours. Now you're on my doorstop ready to take this cycle another step further. Will there ever be an end?"

"Admitting your guilt is a start."

She turned back towards me with a wan smile. "So determined, unlike your sisters. I hope Marisa doesn't get her hands on you," Reimu said with a chuckle. She grew serious. "She will, if you persist with this cycle of retribution."

I shook my head. "I noticed you're willing to stop only after you yourself were threatened."

Reimu laughed freely. "Such confidence. Maybe I found something that interests me more. Your kind might be more than just an appetite on legs."

"You humans are so arrogant. You think that since you're a little lower than the angels, you are free to hunt us like animals. A little less pride, and maybe there wouldn't be enmity between us." As I spoke, I shot to my feet and towered over the shrinemaiden. The old slur against youkai fueled an ancient anger, one I could ill afford.

"Angels?" Reimu said, rolling the unfamiliar word on her tongue. She pointed at me with the hand closest to her staff. "You have Hidden depths."

"I seek justice for my kinswoman, not vengeance. If I can find peace between our races, make it so no one else gets hurt..." I trailed off. I sat again, staring down the same path I had earlier marched upon. An uneasy silence settled over the shrine.

"I could intercede with Kannon for her. Perhaps the goddess of compassion will restore her." This time, it was Reimu's turn to leap to her feet.

I shook my head. "My people would not stand for that."

"You said you wanted peace," Reimu said in a small voice. The shrinemaiden's eyes pleaded with mine.

"We've suffered under the false Maria," I whispered. Maria-Kannon had begun as a secret symbol of the Hidden, but quickly became a symbol of persecution and death.

Reimu winced and turned away, pink rushing through her cheeks. "I didn't mean-"

"You didn't know."

"I suspected-"

I held up my hand and the shrine maiden fell silent. "Let mercy triumph over judgment and think no more of it."

Reimu finally met my eyes. "Can mercy last in a land red in tooth and claw?"

"Perhaps that's where it's needed most." Instantly, I knew how to satisfy my duty. I stood up and held out my hand towards her. "Come with me and find out. See the pain you caused. Swear that you will not cause it again without need and receive our pledge to do the same. "

Reimu pursed her lips and looked me over once more. "Kappa, you have an odd sense of mercy and justice."

"Would you rather we tried to kill each other like the civilized people of Gensokyo?" I said lightly. For the first time since leaving the work camp, I risked a smile.

"I'll pass, thank you," Reimu said, giggling behind her flowing sleeve. The shrinemaiden drew near enough that I almost took a step back. Lifting her head towards mine, she said, "On one condition."

"I don't think-" I began. Immediately, my focus was drawn towards the shrinemaiden inches away.

"Have dinner with me."

I stood speechless, my mind caught in a whirling maelstrom of thought.

Reimu stepped to my side and wrapped her arm around mine. "Aren't you going to take me to your kinswoman?"

Her words shocked me out of my confusion. "Of course."

"Then it's a date," she said, beaming.

"Why?" I asked, uncertain as to what had just happened. We walked down the path away from the shrine.

"Isn't it the custom of your people to eat together after making a solemn agreement?" Reimu said. I answered with a nod. "You intrigue me, kappa. Not many men speak of the greater things. Fewer still are willing to stand up to me because of them."

"It was my duty," I said. "If not me, who else?"

"Now I really don't want Marisa to get her hands on you," she murmured. "You haven't given me your name."

"Tomasu."

"One of the Twelve. Hidden depths, indeed."

As we walked back to my village, chatting amicably beneath a setting sun, I wondered just how I was going to explain the girl on my arms to the village elders. After all, they expected me to bring her head.

For what we are about to receive, may we be grateful.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

Thanks go to Captain Vulcan, Mephiles666, Hunter97, and Wolfsbane706 for prereading. All mistakes are my own.

Thanks to everyone reading this for indulging one of my experimental moods. I will be focusing on my series again over the next few months.


	4. Southern Cross

**Songs of the Illusionary Veil: Southern Cross**

A Touhou Project fanfic by Achariyth

Touhou belongs to ZUN. I'm just playing with cultures and ideas not my own for a story's sake.

* * *

There are traditions to tales like mine. Traditions, that, like the laws of the sea, men avoid to their peril. As this is a sea story, let's begin with the proper invocation.

So there I was, no shit, at the Tsukishima pier...

* * *

Thirty years ago, a young aerospace engineer could look forward to a long career in Houston or Florida's Space Coast. These days, everyone says, "Go West, young man." As in so far west, it becomes east once more. With the advent of the commercial space race, every little Micronesian island chain is busy courting space companies to come and build launch sites. Oh, and incidentally, provide numerous jobs for people who have little in the way of natural resources or industry. The companies, such as SpaceX and my own, are just as eager; Micronesia is in a perfect spot for space launches.

Why, you ask? Look, pal, this is a sea story, not an aerospace class. Just push the "I Believe" button and let's move on.

Anyway, I got swept up in this Micronesian space race not long after leaving the Army. Five years of tax-free pay without anyone shooting at me? Sign me right up! It's satisfying work, but the headhunter forgot a few details in the process.

It's boring out here. Look, Tsukishima is a tropical paradise, but not the cute girls in bikinis type. More like the old men escaping the evil ex-wife type. (No wonder I fit in so well.) There really is only so much beer to drink, snorkeling to do, and diving before island fever sets in. Sometimes you just have to get away. Unfortunately, Hawaii, Australia, and Thailand are just too far away. And expensive as well.

So, thank God for the boat rentals. For eighty bucks a day, I can take a small boat out into the atoll for a time of peace, quiet, and all the fishing and diving that I might feel the need to do.

As I said, so there I was, on the pier of Tsukishima, readying my boat for the day's trip. I wasn't planning on doing anything but taking my boat out to St. Vincent. I'm sure the islanders have their own name for the island, but if you went into the local Rumrunners bar, none of the English-speaking locals would recognize it. Not that I needed the name to anchor off the island and work on my sunburn as well as reading through the local "bestseller".

Okay, that's a bit generous. One of my co-workers found some lurid little thriller that took place on Tsukishima. Some little B-movie monster hunter schlock, but whoever wrote it had to have lived on the island. She had gotten too many of the details right. Well, except for the gremlin and the transforming into monsters part. Still, reading it was a rite of passage for people on the island, and it would be a perfect way to kill a lazy morning. My hands moved mechanically through the tasks of seamanship as I dreamed about open seas.

"Hey, mister, that's a big boat you've got."

There are fewer pleasant ways to wake from a reverie than the purring of a young woman's voice. I looked up towards the dock. Two girls stood on the causeway. One, tall and willowy, rolled her eyes as she carried a small Igloo cooler. Her friend, a petite and dark-haired munchkin, winked at me. Both girls wore light-blue sundresses and wide-brimmed straw hats. Willowy would have made a great fashion model, but by the way her friend moved, I could tell she'd be a handful.

Now before you think this tale will take a dark turn towards the territory of Penthouse Letters or late-night Cinemax, let me be perfectly clear. Even though the saucy munchkin purred a seductive game, both of them were boat bunnies. That meant hands off.

Boat bunnies were young women that loved sun, sea, and boats. Sure, many of them traded on their looks to get a lift from one island to the next, but not many wanted to get kissed by anything other than the sun. Still, many men picked them up for the pleasure of a young woman's company (and the eye candy). Those few who let their hands wander could ruin the deal for everyone. Boat bunnies fled the islands where those animals lived. That meant no more eye candy, which tended to make _everyone_ really upset.

"Where are you ladies heading?" I asked.

"Rumrunners," the tall one said. She set her Igloo down to tuck her long pale hair under her hat.

I pursed my lips in thought. I wasn't planning on heading out there, but Rumrunners on Matamoros wasn't that far from St. Vincent. And they did make a decent cheeseburger. Jimmy Buffet was right, there's nothing like a cheeseburger in paradise. (He's wrong about Heinz's 57, though.) And it had been a while since I talked to anyone besides engineers. "I'm heading that way. You girls in a hurry?"

"If we were, we'd be at the heliport instead," Willowy said.

"Hop in," I said, beckoning the girls with a wave. They stepped into the boat with the practiced ease of ladies familiar with the water. Sunlight glinted off of a carrot necklace that the munchkin wore.

Willowy shook her head, but her hands quickly untied the mooring line. Planting a foot against the dock, she pushed the boat away from the pier. The girl looked like she had more experience with small craft than I did.

I grinned as I stepped behind the wheel. "Ladies, please stow your hats." I shrank back from the frosty glares. "I can't really open up the throttle otherwise"

"Mister, we did say that we weren't in a hurry," Carrot Girl said, sitting on the boat's bow.

"Suit yourself." I shrugged, nudging the throttle just enough so that the boat leisurely pulled away from the dock and into the open ocean.

* * *

It took a while for the shore of Tsukishima to recede across the horizon, especially at the snail's pace the girls insisted I take. But it was long enough for the three of us to work our way through the usual pleasantries. Willowy's real name was Reisen, and that carrot girl cousin of hers went by Tewi. Both of them claimed to be on summer break from college, but I doubted either of them had graced a campus in over a year. Tsukishima is just too remote for the average boat bunny to just stumble upon by accident.

"So, what are you girls doing out here?" I asked, keeping a firm hand on the wheel and the throttle.

"An art student friend of ours recommended the atoll," Reisen said. She held her hat firmly against her head.

"She wouldn't shut up about it," Tewi growled. She sipped on a box drink. "As if we weren't real women if we hadn't seen the ocean."

"There's more to the world than just the sea," I said. For a moment, I was caught up in the mountains of Afghanistan, kicking in doors. "But not many of them are as pleasant."

"Are we far enough away?" Reisen said, wincing as she craned her neck towards the vanishing shore.

Warning bells went off in my head. It never happened to me, but enough guys in my unit had been out on a pleasant night that turned into a wild ride and a missing wallet right after the girl they were with went all secretive. If either of them tried anything, I'd pitch them over the side and come back in an hour and fish them out. A good long swim far from shore tended to adjust attitudes.

I glanced back, just to make sure no one was about to do something stupid. Tewi slid off of her perch on the bow and ran to the stern. Cupping her hands around her eyes, she looked back to where we had come. Behind her, the barest edge of Tsukishima peeked out from the horizon. "Should be good enough. Hey, mister, look at Reisen." She pointed towards her friend.

Despite myself, I turned around. For the first time since stepping aboard my craft, the ash-haired beauty met my eyes. She had pretty pink eyes like an albino, but no albino that I knew of had eyes that glowed.

Reisen stood up and took off her straw hat. I shit you not, two snowy white rabbit ears sprung free. I glanced back on a hunch. Tewi's hat was gone as well. Unlike her cousin, Tewi's bunny ears huddled tight against her raven dark hair like, well, a mini-lop's.

I'll be damned. I had two honest to God _bunny_ girls on my boat. Hugh Heffner would be jealous, if he wasn't into the factory-made identical blondes he so loved. And from the way Reisen eyed me with that glowing stare of hers, I would be damned, literally, if I said the wrong thing.

"Do we have a problem?" Reisen said. Her tone commanded a level of respect that I hadn't heard since the Army. As she spoke, my thoughts turned fluid, jumbling together like some thick stew.

"Not at all. You girls seem nice enough," I said, shaking my head. The confusion cleared from my head as I spoke.

Reisen's eyes faded to normal. She sighed as she wrung out one long white ear. "I hate wearing that hat, it wrinkles my ears."

I wanted to touch her ears. They seemed like they'd be softer than Angora. However, the First Rule of Boat Bunnies still held sway. "Are those real-"

"Call us cosplay enthusiasts," Tewi purred. She flashed a lot of teeth at me in what I hoped was a smile.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" I said, pointing to Reisen. The tall bunny girl's long ears twitched.

"Believe, no. Leave it as, yes," Tewi said. "You are going to leave it, yes?"

Need to know. Got it. I'm no stranger to secrets. "Suit yourself," I said, with a shrug.

* * *

Fortunately for the bunnies, St. Vincent was one of many small islands around the atoll that was unoccupied. I cut the engine and anchored off the shore. Or what was left of it. Coconut palms and zebra wood shrubs covered the island with dark green leaves, leaving little room for surf and sand.

"Hey, Long Ears," Tewi shouted. The short girl in a racing suit teetered on the edge of the boat. "Aren't you going to come in?"

Reisen lifted her head just long enough to shake her head. She had traded her sundress for a modest pink bikini and a fluffy beach towel. Both bunny and towel lay sprawled out on the bow, soaking up the sunlight.

And, yes, before you ask, cottontails. Both of them. And more lifelike than any "cosplay enthusiast" could buy.

"Spoilsport," Tewi said, plunging in the water. I saw a flash of blue and green among the crystal blue water and she surfaced, spitting water.

"It takes forever to get that algae smell out of my ears," Reisen said, wrinkling her nose. "Have fun among the sharks."

"I can't help it if they like me," Tewi said, treading water. She looked up at me. "Don't tell me that I'm swimming alone."

What can you say to an invitation like that? Stopping just long enough to grab a mask and snorkel, I dove over the side.

* * *

The smooth sea held from St. Vincent to Rumrunners. That let me open wide the throttles, and the small boat, a clunker by most standards, sliced across the water like the flying fish that leaped from our wake. Occasionally, a small wave launched the bow into the air. Cheery giggles and salt spray greeted its inevitable return to the sea.

But even with taking the long way across the lagoon, the U-shaped island of Matamoros and its unwelcome marina grew ever closer. Tewi tapped my hand and shook her head. I backed off the throttle, almost bringing the boat to a stop.

Immediately, the straw hats and sundress came out. Reisen slicked her long ears back until they hung behind her like long white ribbons from a bow. Tewi just set her hat at a rakish angle and smiled. "You know what they say about all good things," she said, smoothing her skirts underneath her before she sat.

"You sure that you don't want another trip around the island?" I asked. Even with the sprawling Rumrunners bar and resort taking up a third of the island, Matamoros still had some of the best beaches in the atoll. Some days I wished that my company had built its facilities here, but I was well aware of the dangers in keeping large numbers of engineers anywhere near polite society.

"If we weren't meeting friends," Reisen said wistfully, eyeing the golden brown sandy shores.

"College friends?"

"More like the dorm mom," Tewi said, laughing. Reisen flashed her cousin a glare so cutting that it could have sliced diamond. "Oh, lighten up, Long Ears. At least I didn't call her 'Grandma.'"

"Don't let her hear you say that." Reisen's eyes grew widen as she huddled against the railing and shuddered.

"One of our friends went prematurely white. Reisen found out the hard way just how sensitive she can be about that," Tewi said, pulling out another box drink from the cooler at her feet.

"She put the Evil Eye on you?" I said, working the wheel so that that boat steered to the right side of the traffic buoys.

"Worse. She said that if I continued to tease her, my hair would go white as well," Reisen muttered.

I bit back a chuckle. Reisen's fur was pure white, even if her hair wasn't. Looks like my two guests are as much young women as they were rabbits. Then again, I did remember a twenty-something version of myself agonizing over each stray hair in the sink.

The waves lapped against the bow as the craft crept closer to the marina. Peace, however, were nowhere to be found. Tewi climbed her way back and forth across the boat, looking out towards the horizon. Reisen had to pull her back over the railing once, before her cousin disappeared into the water.

We circled around to fish Tewi's hat out of the drink. At least she had the good grace to look abashed while Reisen scolded her. Both of their spirits quickly returned, and the last mile to the dock was full of laughter. Some of it was even my own.

It was with regret that I pulled back sharply on the throttle. The engines surged in reverse and then cut out, leaving the boat motionless just inches from the Rumrunners pier. The waves finished the job, nudging the boat against the pier so that my two assistants could tie the craft securely to the dock.

I checked their work before stepping onto the floating concrete rig. "I'll be out this way for a while. If you see me, don't feel shy about asking for a ride," I said, holding out my hand. A mere pleasantry; most boat bunnies kept on the move.

"Thank you," Reisen said graciously, holding my hand as she stepped out of the boat. She knelt down and took the cooler from Tewi. "I'd like that."

Once more, I offered my hand. Tewi pulled herself out of the boat and onto her toes. For the briefest of instants, her lips brushed my cheek. "For luck," she said catching my eyes.

I watched them walk down the pier towards Matamoros island, trading the occasional wave. After the bunny girls disappeared from sight, I settled my dock and fuel fee and walked towards Rumrunners in search of a cheeseburger in paradise.

Some proprieties have to be observed. Even if it meant listening to that damn song again.

* * *

It's been five weeks, and I find myself once again sipping a Jack and Coke out here at Rumrunners. Maybe I'll see them again, but they're most likely halfway to Kwajalein by now. Boat bunnies aren't known for staying in one place, and I guess that'd be doubly so for those two. All I have left from that day is a kiss and a promise of good luck, along with a bundle of fading pleasant memories. It wouldn't be the first time I'd gone sentimental over a kiss.

Then again, something inside is still telling me that my luck's about to change...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Thanks to Captain Vulcan for giving this a look prior to posting.


	5. The Country Doctor

**Songs of the Illusionary Veil: The Country Doctor**

A Touhou Project fanfic by Achariyth

* * *

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen.

I've sent my wife away; as long as the mountain goddesses smile upon her, she should be safe. I've kept this secret even from her. Now that my life is forfeit, I find that I must write it down.

She is coming for me; I know it in my bones. Those red-eyed stares stole what little joy that I could find from my wayward daughter's wedding to the half-breed shopkeeper. She passed by me in the reception line, taking deliberate care to catch my eye. Her red eyes flashed, and I saw the moment of my death down to the silk chord and the shattered glass bottle my daughter will find by my body.

We all thought she was perfect, even those of us who hated her kind. I know I did, now I can't remember why.

A year ago, sickness swept through the village. They called it the bird flu, but even tengu medicine could not help its victims. My wife caught it first, and my daughter, may the devils take her, only deigned to leave her forest when her own mother could no longer sit up in bed. Then I caught the fever as well. Not willing to risk my daughter's concoctions, I slipped out the door to ask the country doctor what was wrong with me.

This was before the rabbit doctor lost her sick friend. A rare affliction, she called it. She said that she was doing all she could do. We believed it; not even her boss, the moon doctor, could bring the little bunny back from Death's door. Some call death the ultimate healing, but the white rabbit's release was still weeks away when I walked up to the country doctor's office.

I pushed open the door into an empty waiting room and settled on a couch. No assistant sat at the desk; that bunny was withering away at Eternity Manor. I rang the bell, but no one came out from behind the curtain to greet me.

Time crept by, stoking the fire in my veins. Wobbling to my feet, I staggered to the water jug and slaked my thirst, but not my pain. In a haze, I slipped past the curtain that separated the clinic from the waiting room. She kept her remedies in a closet near the entrance. I'd seen her go in it before. Like the rest of the village, my wife and I relied on her to tend our wounds, aches, and illnesses. At this point, I'd have settled for sake, but more potent medicines were closer.

The remedies were separated in labeled bins. Feversbane was easy to find, right next to an unmarked bottle. Still hoping for sake, I uncorked it. A familiar acrid bitterness met my nose. I immediately set the glass aside. My wife used something similar to control the rats that plagued our shop.

I turned around and saw two shadows entwined in the room in front of me. A ghostly mist surrounded them while they made eyes and their hands roamed free. A gasp later and red eyes followed me as I hurried out of the office, leaving the bunny doctor and her blushing mistress to their shame.

Now you know the trouble I've seen.

I've passed her many times in the village since then, and I can never bring myself to meet her eyes. Maybe if I had, I might have had more warning.

The land loves rumor, and many surrounded the rabbit doctor as her friend died. Some said that there was another woman. How could they not, when the ghostly girl clung to her side? I never breathed a word of that day, but she wouldn't believe me that the tales didn't start with me.

So now I sit alone in my parlor, choking down my bitter drink as I write these words. I'm waiting for the red eyes that will be the last thing I will ever see.

The door slams against the wall. Red eyes peer from the stalking shadows, petrifying me as chills run through my body. The bottle slips out of frozen fingers and shatters against the floor.

I can only hope that my daughter will avenge me.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Inspired by Bruce Hornsby's song, "The Country Doctor". Thanks to WillieGR and Captain Vulcan for prereading.


	6. Glory, Departed

**Songs of the Illusionary Veil: Glory, Departed**

A Touhou Project story by Achariyth

**Disclaimers:** The usual disclaimer applies. I am playing fast and loose with histories, cultures, and backgrounds not my own for the sake of storytelling.

* * *

"Luna! Star!" Sunny Milk hollered, dragging her broom as she passed beneath the torii gate. The Hakurei shrine had three such gates, separating the Holy, the Most Holy, and the Holy of Holies from the ordinary world that surrounded it. But the ancient priests who consecrated the gates never planned for the fairies that routinely tracked mud across the holy thresholds. "Chores are done!"

The three fairies had recently made their home within the Hakurei shrine grounds after foolishly challenging the shrinemaiden, Reimu Hakurei, to a duel. Unsurprisingly, Reimu hadn't broken a sweat. Instead of sealing Sunny and her friends away, the shrinemaiden had instead invited the fairies into the shrine. Since then, the trio had enlivened the quiet shrine with their antics, even as they helped Reimu with the chores. Now, if only Sunny could keep Star from talking about claiming the shrine as her own.

Sunny slumped against the torii gate and sighed. "Don't tell me that they've left already." The chores never seemed to end around the remote shrine, only the daylight. It came as no surprise that Reimu had caught Luna and Sunny slacking off many times, but Star always eluded her. The starlight fairy's gift always let her know when the shrinemaiden was near. "Reimu's making her soba noodles and pickled salad." The promise of good food should bring her lazy friends out of hiding.

The ground shook beneath her feet. Sunny grabbed for the torii gate's post, but staggered out of reach. She took to the air, dropping her broom on the stone path. Sunny looked through the gate and then to the sky. Earthquakes weren't uncommon in Gensokyo, but it paid to look out from falling keystones.

The shaking stopped, only to be followed by the electric sound of shredding cloth. Sunny patted down her own dress before watching the shrine. A great pillar of white smoke billowed out of the small building, rising high to the sky before the wind blew it away.

A chill ran down Sunny's spine as the last of the cloud faded into mist and nothingness. An incident, no doubt, and on her doorstep, too. She caught her breath and a wan smile crossed her lips. The fairy might not know much about the shrine where she lived, but she knew one thing deep within her bones.

Whatever may come, Reimu would handle it.

* * *

"It's about time you showed up," Marisa Kirisame said, leaning against the Hakurei shrine's outermost torii gate. She had traded her want for a broom, but the pointy hat remained. To Marisa, there was not point in being a witch unless everyone else could recognize her as one.

Alice Margatroid most certainly wasn't a witch, even though she spent a lot of time around Marisa. First of all, she was addicted to colors other than black. Two dolls, both blonde like their mistress, trailed behind the puppeteer as she climbed the steps toward the shrine. "What do you want? I was having a heart to heart with Hourai." The doll in the red dress glowered at her name. "She's always misbehaving, not like her sister, Shanghai." Hourai's twin in a blue dress actually beamed.

Marisa whistled as she shook her head. "I've got to get you out more often. They're dolls, not people." All three Margatroid girls glared at her. The witch held up her hand. "But I can only worry about one crisis at a time."

"My social life is not a crisis," Alice snapped, hugging her mysterious black book against her chest. Color bled into her cheeks.

"Whatever," Marisa drawled. No girl with Alice's slender height and porcelain features should hide herself in a forest. Sanae had once called the puppeteer a supermodel. Marisa didn't know what the shrinemaiden meant, but it sounded like fun. The witches smile faded. "We need to see Reimu."

"How bad is it?" Alice said, following the witch through the torii gate. Normally, there was a slight pressure whenever she crossed the shrine's threshold. She might not be a witch, but many gods grew uncomfortable at Alice's presence.

Marisa fished a large ingot of chocolate out of her apron and held it over her head. That one bar could supply three thirsty women enough hot chocolate for a weekend and still have enough left over for the inevitable fairies and visitors passing by the shrine.

"Oh dear," Alice murmured as she pursed her lips. Even Shanghai and Hourai perked up at the sight of the bar. What sorrow would need that much joy to wipe it away?

* * *

A sheaf of wheat, waving through the air. Sake, poured onto the ground. Incense, smoldering as its fragrance rose to heaven. Rice cakes, given over to the gods through fire. Salt, consecrating again once holy ground. A dozen meals, each as varied as the hundred offerings filling the shrine's grounds. Rice, grain, pickled and fresh vegetables, but never meat nor fat nor blood. Only the Suwa gods demanded that sacrifice.

Amidst the bountiful offerings, the heavens remained silent.

Reimu pulled a wooden sign off of the shrine's outside wall. It didn't fell right to claim to be a branch of the Moriya shrine. With the heavens silent, it didn't feel right to claim to be a shrine at all.

Her head bowed, the shrinemaiden shuffled inside. Sniffing and rubbing her eyes, she stepped in front of a polished brass mirror set upon a stained reliquary cabinet. The incense hung thicker than usual in the air, Reimu mused, staring at her red eyed reflection. If she repeated it enough, maybe she'd actually believe it.

Four spherical bells sat in front of the mirror. Reimu hadn't worn them since her first days as an initiate, where she learned how to draw the gods' attention without such aids. Now, there was nothing else left to try. She picked up one of the bells, rolling it in her palm before tying it firmly in her hair.

"Reimu!" Marisa called out, coughing as she entered the shrine. Alice entered behind her, a handkerchief held demurely against her nose. Two dolls floated in, mirroring the puppeteer. "Wow, hitting the incense a little strong, aren't you?"

"You're not supposed to be in here," Reimu said, scowling at the red-dressed doll fanning incense away from her face. Even when silent, heaven still had a sense of humor. The shrinemaiden tied off a second bell. Only those consecrated to service were supposed to enter the Holy of Holies, where the reliquary stayed. Frankly, Reimu just wanted to be alone.

"I built this room," Alice said, hiding her handkerchief. She smiled, nodding towards her dolls. "Well, they did." She had helped Sakuya and Suika rebuild the shrine in the aftermath of the Celestial's tantrum.

"And you know I'm not one to go where I'm not invited." Marisa actually held a straight face for five seconds before grinning.

"I'm all out of tea," Reimu said, eyeing the two magicians' reflection in the mirror. "Can the two of you go get me some?"

"Good thing I brought something stronger," Marisa said, setting her bar of chocolate on a nearby shelf. "Sunny said that you might be needing some after running yourself ragged all day."

"Meddling fairy," Reimu murmured, tying off the third bell. She felt a slight smile spreading across her lips. "You never know, I might just enlist the help of two nearby volunteers." The prospect of actual work should send them packing.

"I thought you had fairies for that," Alice said.

"Indeed." Reimu tied the last bell into her hair. She closed her eyes and sighed. Only sheer force of will kept the shrinemaiden from trembling as she stood, but it couldn't keep the color from draining out of her face. Loosening the ribbon around her neck, Reimu pulled her blouse over her head and onto the floor. Storming out of the shrine, she tore at the bindings around her breasts.

Marisa and Alice stared open-mouthed, scarlet flooding their cheeks. But as soon as Reimu's foot stepped through the doorway, they leapt forward, grabbing the shrinemaiden's arms and pulling her back inside.

"What are you doing?" Alice hissed, blocking the doorway with her body.

Reimu looked at the puppeteer with wide glassy eyes. Tears streamed down her face as she shrugged out of Marisa's grip. The shrinemaiden clung to the front of Alice's dress, crushing the fabric in her hands. "You're prettier. Dance with me," she rasped. Reimu's slender hands pulled on the laces of Alice's bodice.

The puppeteer shrieked, covering her chest with her arms. Marisa shoved her way between her friends and pushed Reimu away. Wild-eyed, the shrinemaiden dove towards Alice, stopping only when Marisa cuffed her hard enough to lift the dark haired girl off of her feet.

* * *

"What the Hell's gotten into you?" Marisa said, towering over Reimu. The short witch had dragged the shrine's donation box over, just so she could stand on it to loom over the shrinemaiden.

"Ame-no-Uzume," Reimu said, rubbing an imprint of a hand on her cheek. The shrine maiden sat where Marisa had knocked her over.

"That better have been an 'I'm sorry,'" Alice hissed. She held her arms out away from her body while Shanghai and Hourai relaced her dress.

"Ame-no-Uzume." The shrinemaiden enunciated each syllable of the name slowly and clearly.

"Neither one of us is from your faith," Marisa said. She hurled a wad of red cloth at Reimu. "Put that back on."

"Back when the sun goddess Amaterasu had sealed herself in a cave, the gods tried everything to get her to come back out. Only Ame-no-Uzume's dance coaxed Amatersu out of her solitude." Reimu slipped into her blouse. She turned her head away from her guests. "It...wasn't a ballroom dance." She winced, and her face matched her skirt. "It was a burlesque."

Marisa fell off of the donation box laughing. "I never thought of a goddess as a stripper before," she wheezed, picking herself up off of the ground.

""I'm not in the mood to hear this, especially from one who likes to walk around 'skyclad,'" Reimu snapped.

"The boys only wish that was the case."

"This doesn't explain why you streaked out of here. Or why you wanted to drag me with you," Alice said.

"My god is missing," Reimu said. Then, like a flooding river bursting free from its banks, "I've tried everything to call him back, nothing's worked, I had to try it." Her shoulders slumped as she hugged her knees to her chest. "I had to."

"Quick, hot chocolate!" Marisa said as she knelt by Reimu.

A flick of Alice's figures sent her dolls scurrying for a kettle. Well, Shanghai at least. Hourai stood motionless no matter how many commands her puppeteer gave her. Alice eyed her doll quizzically. "What-?"

Marisa rolled her eyes and stormed over to her chocolate bar. "For crying out loud, worry about your doll later," she hissed, shoving the treat into the dollmaker's hands. Alice fumbled with the bar before it fell into the kettle that Shanghai dragged over. The doll poured milk into the kettle and backed away as Marisa's heating spell flared into life. The witch turned back towards Reimu. "What do you mean, missing?"

"The Yin Yang Orb is missing," Reimu said. She leaned over and opened the reliquary. Normally the icon that served as the embodiment of the Hakurei shrine god on earth sat inside. Now, the cupboard was empty. "See."

"Couldn't you have just misplaced it?" Alice said, stirring the melting chocolate inside the kettle. Shanghai carried a stack of mugs over to her mistress.

"I've always been able to call it back," Reimu said, shivering. She closed her eyes and held out her palm. Alice and Marisa waited while the shrinemaiden uttered a quick prayer. Reimu's hand remained empty. "Now, I can't. And the god won't come when I try to channel him."

"Did you ever learn your god's name?" Marisa asked, wrapping a comforter around Reimu's shoulder.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Reimu snapped. She huddled within the thick blanket. "Not like it matters any more. How can I call myself a shrinemaiden when my shrine no longer has an icon of an embodied god?"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," a refined, feminine voice said. The three girls jumped. Only natural grace kept Alice from tipping over her kettle.

"Who's out there?" Marisa said, palming her elemental reactor towards the shrine's exit.

"Down here."

Alice's eyes searched the shrine's interior until a waving doll caught her attention. Hourai bounced in the middle of the room. The puppeteer's eyes snapped open. She wasn't sending commands to her doll. And when did Hourai's hair turn green?

"Hina? What are you doing?" Reimu said, brandishing sealing charms. Even without her god's icon, the Yin Yang Orb, the shrinemaiden was ready for a fight.

Alice rubbed her eyes. Sure enough, Hourai's hair had grown long enough for her to tie it together underneath her chin with a red ribbon in the same style that the luck goddess, Hina Kagiyama, wore hers.

"Someone was so kind enough to leave a vessel I could use right outside of a vacated shrine," Hina-in-Hourai said as she twirled through the air. Alice sputtered as she flicked her fingers, but the strings connecting her to her doll fell limp.

"This is still the Hakurei god's shrine," Reimu said, rocking to her feet. "Not yours."

The embodied doll goddess settled inside the reliquary, planting her fists against her hips. "Your god left. Shouldn't you be worried about who's going to move in?"

The shrine's courtyard filled with angry shrieks. The three girls rushed outside, fumbling for spell cards as they ran.

Star Sapphire, like the explorers of old, had planted a homemade flag into the grass. Standing on her tiptoes as she shouted, the fairy tried to tower over a blonde girl wearing a straw hat. Red-faced, Suwako Moriya shoved a sign at the fairy, no doubt the same shrine that proclaimed the Hakurei shrine as a branch of the Moriya Mountain Shrine. Neither noticed the audience or the small doll setting her own claim inside the shrine's reliquary.

Reimu's eyes turned glassy as she tottered on her feet, finally falling into Marisa's arms.

* * *

Water for the hands, salt for the floor, ash for the lips. A prayer offered with each step of the cleansing. Finally ritually pure, Rinnosuke clapped his hands and drew open the curtain to his hearth's shrine.

Merchants took great stock in ritual. Not only did haggling over prices have a distinct form, any job that relied on the blessings of numerous gods for diverse goods demanded the fastidiousness needed to keep them satisfied. Fail to please the war god and risk bandits. Clipped, worthless coins followed in the wake of the prosperity god's displeasure. Upset the harvest goddess...

He lived in special fear of that. Not only did she help bring forth the bounties of the earth that passed through Rinnosuke's hands as he bought and sold, Minoriko Aki smiled on him personally. Every day, as she came through his shop, along with a host of other women. Each plied their charms in the hope of being the one girl womanly enough to catch his heart. (It wouldn't be quite so bad if the girls actually bought something when they visited.) Scorning any of his suitors would cause a small riot. Scorning Minoriko would likely ruin him.

Each morning, he poured a small gift of appreciation. Rice wine flowed into a small cup in front of each of his household gods' icons. The gods must enjoy the offerings; every evening he found the cups empty. Although the daily gifts to a dozen gods added up to a noticeable part of his budget, the blessings ensured that he was never hungry and the gods never went without their libations.

Today, thirteen icons greeted him. The newcomer, an orb etched with the symbol of the Way and Harmony, even manifested its own small stone bowl. How it had pulled the earthenware from the Hakurei shrine was a mystery.

Rinnosuke filled the bowl with a pour offering. "Greetings. I am unworthy of such an august visit. Shouldn't your shrinemaiden be the one to attend you?"

_She has forgotten me. You alone know my name._

The voice echoed in Rinnosuke's mind with the force of a tempest. The sake before the Yin Yang Orb rippled in its cup. "I don't know the sacrifices-"

_To obey is better than sacrifice._

The Orb took on a cold glow that illuminated the merchant's hearth. Rinnosuke knelt before his hearth's shrine, silent. Then, in a quiet voice, "What would you ask of me?"


	7. Howl

**Songs of the Illusionary Veil : Howl**

A Touhou Project story by Achariyth

Disclaimer: ZUN owns Touhou, not me.

* * *

"'In her house in Mayohiga, dread Yukari lies dreaming,'" Ran Yakumo muttered. She lurked next to her master's four-post bed, shadows hiding both the fox woman and the giant pillow in her hands. Smothering her master now would quiet the jet engine roar howling from the sleeping youkai's mouth by a factor of a thousand. Too bad that the resulting buzz saw whine would still be a hundred thousand times shriller than Yukari's normal pleasant, yet cryptic, speech.

Ran wished she could spend a moment to figure out down to the last digit exactly how much the feather cushion would silence Yukari's snoring. The vixen loved numbers to the point that her master often called her a living computer. With a little coaxing, they could tell her much about the world and how it worked. For instance, she had only ten minutes before Chen woke up to add her own caterwauling to the mix. Sleeping through that cacophonous duet, Ran knew from hard-learned terror, would be impossible.

Unless you were Yukari Yakumo.

The Buddha taught that to desire is to suffer. Limiting desire would end the ceaseless pain of existence. But even the Enlightened One would crave a night of uninterrupted sleep. especially if he had spent the past week stealing little cat naps around the Doomkitten's fits.

The vixen's hands twitched as she crept away from the mountain of ruffles and silk. "Even Reimu would forgive me," she whispered. The cushion dangled from Ran's loose grip until the fox hugged it tight against her body.

Unlike humans and beasts, breathing down would not kill Yukari. Assuming that the blonde youkai would even deign to notice the inconvenience, Ran figured that her master would be 33% likely to just roll over and moan Aya's name. After that, Ran was 100% certain to smother her for real. That left a 67% chance that Yukari would wake up raring for a full-contact pillow fight where she owned all the pillows. Yet no matter how Yukari applied the switch of correction, Chen would sleep away, oblivious. After the ruckus, Ran then could get a few hours sleep, at least until Yukari's feral snore awoke once more to murder all chances of rest. If the vixen acted in the next nine minutes and seventeen seconds...

...sixteen...

...fifteen...

Ran cast her burning bloodshot eyes about for any way to silence that infernal snore. Merely waking Yukari for anything short of Yuyuko's yearly banquet or Reimu and Marisa kicking down the door to Mayohiga would earn the fox a swat or ten.

Some days Ran wished that she had never agreed to become Yukari's familiar, but she'd never step away from the wonderful world of numbers her master had introduced her to.

Her eyes lit on the small portal by the bed. Yukari kept one nearby the bed as a chamber pot. Ran normally wished that her boss would get out of bed and walk to the bathroom like anyone else. Anything for a respite from the rasping snarl belting from Yukari's bedroom. However, her master loved convenience dearly, and Ran suffered on.

"In for a penny," Ran said. Her tails swished behind her and she flashed a toothy predatory smile. She ran towards the bathroom, opening herself up towards her master's power. Warmth flooded through her body, reminding the fox woman of running through fields on a midsummer day.

The vixen burst into the shrine to brass, porcelain, and beauty products. One swift kick spun the dial over the tub, flooding it with cold water. Meanwhile, Ran seized in both hands the portal hovering over the toilet and channeled her master's power into it. It took every bit of the warmth within, but the fox dragged the portal over the tub and pulled it just wide enough for an eternal seventeen year old.

Ran stepped back, watched the water fill the tub, and pursed her lips. Dashing out of the room, she reappeared minutes later, dragging a bag of ice as long and as full as one of her tails. Swinging it around, she smashed the ice against a wall before dumping the bag into the water.

Two minutes and thirty-eight seconds before the Doomkitten's yowl, Ran stood again by her master's bed and gripped the underside of the mattress. Lightning quick calculations told her how hard, how fast, and how high to life. With a minute to spare, and a bright smile on her lips, the _kitsune_ trickster hauled her side of the bed high into the air. Yukari tumbled over the side, and a pleasing splash filled the air.

"RAN!"

And Chen slept on.

* * *

Yukari huddled against the porcelain tub, shivering inside a heavy terry cloth robe. Her teeth chattered as she flipped through a phone-book sized manual in her hands, stopping only to wipe sodden blonde strands out of her eyes. "Why is my familiar misbehaving?" Yukari read.

_Your Kitsune 9.0 familiar is acting out in an attempt to bring your attention to her needs. The manufacturer recommends that you sit down with your Kitsune 9.0 and work your way through the following questions until you are able to diagnose and correct the underlying need causing her misbehavior._

Yukari scowled, her lips twisting into a moue of disgust as she read on. Flinging the thick book against the wall, she reached for a small pamphlet atop a stack of scattered magazines and books by the toilet. Titled "Familiars for Dummies," this single sheet folded three times had been written by Yuyuko Saigyouji and distilled the ghostly courtesan's wisdom into a series of pithy sayings. Where the Kitsune 9.0 manual had reams of paper devoted to troubleshooting, Yuyuko's philosophy could be reduced to two sentences.

"Equipment that can't work is replaced. Equipment that won't work is abused until it can't or it does," Yukari read aloud through blue lips. The waterlogged youkai grinned and reached through a portal, grabbing a familiar wooden switch.


End file.
